The former Chesapeake Restaurant in Baltimore could be bustling with three new restaurants this year.

Developer Ernst Valery of Ernst Valery Investments Corp., said redevelopment of the site at 1701 N. Charles St. should be completed by fall.

The former Chesapeake will include De Kleine Duivel, a Belgian brasserie, as well as a stripped-down version of Milk and Honey, a market and cafe Valery owns in Mount Vernon.

“It’s a smaller footprint and more like a Starbucks,” Valery said of the upcoming Milk and Honey.

Details for the third restaurant are still being finalized, Valery said.

The retailers will occupy about 8,000 square feet, Valery said.

“We’re hoping that it builds on what the neighborhood has already been able to achieve,” Valery said, referring to venues like the Charles Theater.

M.J. “Jay” Brodie, president of the BDC, said redevelopment of the former Chesapeake is another key step toward making the neighborhood a dining and entertainment destination.

“This is vitality coming to Charles North, bit by bit,” Brodie said.

Mark Millman, a retail consultant who heads Millman Search Group Inc. in Owings Mills, questioned whether Charles North has enough foot traffic to support three new dining and coffee options.

“People aren’t living right there,” Millman said. “Maybe they’ll get early-morning train traffic, or maybe University of Baltimore [students and faculty].

“I’m glad they’re doing something, but parking’s a problem.”

Valery, though, said the neighborhood already has proven it can attract people.

“What’s there now is a destination, and I think people are moving into that neighborhood,” Valery said. “There’s been a lot of investment by UB, [the Maryland Institute College of Art] and the neighborhood itself. It just needs more.”

The Reinvestment Fund, a national firm that has an office in Baltimore, is financing the project. Valery declined to disclose the project cost, and a spokeswoman for TRF declined to say how much money it lent for the Chesapeake project.